William Blake 's The Tyger

One of William Blake great poems, The Tyger” is well known as one or perhaps

In the poems "The Lamb" and "The Tyger," William Blake uses symbolism, tone, and rhyme to advance the theme that God can create good and bad creatures. The poem "The Lamb" was in Blake's "Songs of Innocence," which was published in 1789. "The Tyger," in his "Songs of Experience," was published in 1794. In these contrasting poems he shows symbols of what he calls "the two contrary states of the human soul" (Shilstone 1).

The Songs of Innocence poems first appeared in Blake’s 1784 novel, An Island in the Moon. In 1788, Blake began to compile in earnest, the collection of Songs of Innocence. And by 1789, this original volume of plates was complete. These poems are the products of the human mind in a state of innocence, imagination, and joy; natural euphoric feelings uninhibited or tainted by the outside world. Following the completion of the Songs of Innocence plates, Blake wrote The Marriage of Heaven and Hell and it is through this dilemma of good and evil and the suffering that he witnesses on the streets of London, that he begins composing Songs of Experience. This second volume serves as a response to Songs of

William Blake was deeply aware of the great political and social issues during his time focusing his writing on the injustices going on in the world around him. He juxtaposed the state of human existence through his works Songs of Innocence (1789) and Songs of Experience (1794), showing differentiating sides of humanity. The contrast between Songs of

In the poem “The Tyger” by William Blake, the use of rhyme, repetition, allusion, and symbolism all help the reader understand the theme and what was going through the authors thoughts while writing. William Blake was a mystic poet who channeled his thoughts and questions to write poems. He questioned the creator of both the Tyger and lamb, how could the same God create a destructive creature like the Tyger and on the other hand create a gentle animal, the lamb. This ties into the theme of the poem of how a God could and would create a monster like the Tyger.

“The Lamb” in Songs of Innocence, and “The Tyger” in Songs of Experience were written with biblical influence, and Blake demonstrates his biblical upbringing through out these poems. “The Lamb” is represented through a pastoral story line, allowing a connection with agriculture and nature, much like many stories in the Bible. “The Tyger’s” storyline, however introduces the question of theodicy, or why there is evil in the world. How can God make a lamb so innocent and pure, and in turn create something so evil and cruel? Throughout “The Tyger”, Blake asks hypothetical questions,

Blake's poems of innocence and experience are a reflection of Heaven and Hell. The innocence in Blake's earlier poems represents the people who will get into Heaven. They do not feel the emotions of anger and

The two poems that have to deal with the philosophies of human nature are William Blake’s “The Tyger” and Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself.” Blake’s poem is based off the Romantics and Walt Whitman is an American Naturalist that is based off free verse a form that he created.

William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience are collections of poems that utilize the imagery, instruction, and lives of children to make a larger social commentary. The use of child-centered themes in the two books allowed Blake to make a crucial commentary on his political and moral surroundings with deceptively simplistic and readable poetry. Utilizing these themes Blake criticized the church, attacking the hypocritical clergy and pointing out the ironies and cruelties found within the doctrines of organized religion. He wrote about the horrific working conditions of children as a means to magnify the inequality between the poor working class and

William Blake was known to be a mystic poet who was curious about the unknowns in the world, and strived to find all the answers. Does God create both gentle and fearful creatures? As a questioned asked in the poem “The Tyger” William Blake pondered on why an all-powerful, loving God would create a vicious predator, the Tiger, after he created a sweet, timid, harmless animal, the lamb. The theme of this poem surrounds this idea of why the same creator would create both a destructive and gentle animal. This issue is brought up and discussed through rhyme, repetition, allusion, and symbolism.

Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience are contrasting views of the same events. Each contains a collection of poems that profile an idea, figure, or event. In Songs of Innocence the world is viewed through the Eyes of someone like a child, who has little life experience. In Songs of Experience the same world is looked at only this time from the standpoint of someone who has experience in life, most likely an adult. The major difference between the two viewpoints is the understanding for life and

The works of William Blake cannot be entirely discussed, so my project particularly focuses on 'Songs of Innocence and Experience'.

Poetry is a fascinating tool for touching upon the personal feelings of people and inspiring them in impacting ways. Among the most notable pieces of poetry are remembered by society as having a substantial effect on culture and critical thinking. One of the more influential pieces of poetry throughout the course of time has been that of William Blake. Blake is known for his poetry of immensely deep meaning and his methods for connecting the themes of the poem with the language and description of his content. One of his more influential works is that of The Tyger where Blake attempts to capture both the beauty and ferociousness of the tiger as a creation. The poem itself compares the creation of the lamb as a peaceful and straightforward creature whereas the tiger is a beast that carries much more substance. In a way, the works of William Blake allow the audience members to reflect a little more deeply on nature and perhaps take a second look at other aspects of their life. The descriptive content of William Blake’s works is widely regarded as one of the more influential set of works of poetry of its time, and for very good reason.

Successful businessmen will tell you that its how you treat the “lower-level” employees that will determine your success. If those who do the grunt work are happy, the company will likely prosper. This notion dates back to the chivalric era in which knights and noblemen would place their trust in the blacksmith to forge high quality armour and weapons. The blacksmith was held in high regard for a lower-class citizen, and became a sort of anomaly in the hierarchy of a kingdom. William Blake evokes the image of a blacksmith as creator in his poem “The Tyger” to comment on the social and political situations of the times. He chooses a rough, rude and labour-driven artist as a way of rejecting the aesthetic features of art for more practical, albeit destructive forms.

Some of William Blake’s poetry is categorized into collections called Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. Blake explores almost opposite opinions about creation in his poems “The Lamb” and “The Tiger.” While the overarching concept is the same in both, he uses different subjects to portray different sides of creation; however, in the Innocence and Experience versions of “The Chimney Sweeper,” Blake uses some of the same words, rhyme schemes, and characters to talk about a single subject in opposite tones.